


in the footsteps of giants

by brandflakeeee



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Gen, mostly vfd's favorite librarians, only slight olivia/jacques
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 07:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17320553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandflakeeee/pseuds/brandflakeeee
Summary: olivia receives a note.





	in the footsteps of giants

The note is cryptic above everything, but Olivia can't help but be quite curious about the owner of the script. It clearly must be a volunteer - there are far too many in the hotel she knows, which doesn't quite narrow it down. It has simple instructions:

Floor 135.

Except such a thing does not exist, she knows and ruminates upon as Jacques falls asleep and she listens to the sound of his steady breathing. Her favorite sound - a reminder he is alive and so is she and nothing is over just yet. She smiles softly, distracted briefly by how peaceful he looks in his sleep. The lines lessen and his face is far more relaxed than it often is in the daylight. She likes watching him sleep: in an entirely not-terrifying way, of course. 

When she is certain he's asleep, she crawls out of bed and slips on her shoes. It isn't exactly proper to be scurrying about a rather fancy hotel in one's pajamas, but she imagines there are worse things. Besides, she doesn't want to explain being completely dressed if she returns to an awake Jacques. Pushing her glasses further up onto her nose, she grabs her spyglass and the note from the nightstand, and steps out into the hall.

It, of course, it deserted. As it should be, at nearly midnight. 

She retraces far earlier steps down the hall to the elevator. It comes when she beckons, and as she steps inside she looks at the note once more to ensure she's read it properly. She has. 

Floor 135. 

She looks at the buttons on the panel before her. None look remotely helpful or close to a three digit number. It's impossible.

She glances back at the note. There are small spaces between the numbers. Separate floors? But what would that do.

Holding her spyglass beneath her arm and the note clenched between her teeth, she tries something - and presses the buttons for floors 1, 3, and 5 all at once. To her surprise, the elevator lurches to life and begins to descend. A small thrill rushes through her. She's done something correct (she hopes).

It descends past the lobby, the basement, and yet still continues. The arrow goes well past any indicators until it's pointed straight down as well and even then the elevator continues. It's unnerving, descending in the metal cage without an idea of what might await her at the bottom. Had it been a volunteer truly who had written the note?

What if she's made a grave mistake?

Her stomach in her throat, the elevator stops and the doors open. 

She's quizzically confused when she steps into a small office looking space lined with small shelves that look remarkably like - oh, it can't possibly be.

Curious, Olivia steps forward and pulls open the nearest drawer. It is. She flips to a random card and glances at it, the information hardly important except one factor. The Dewey Decimal System. She blinks furiously - a  _library?_ Down here?

There's a door to her right that looks like it might open, and it does when she turns the knob.

For a moment, she thinks she might be dead and has gone to library heaven. 

There are shelves as far as she can see, stretching out in every direction including up. Massive ladders span the length, waiting to be climbed and used to grab a book from the topmost shelf - which she can't even see with how far up the shelves go. She takes a few tentative steps forward and runs her hands along the nearest spines of the books. She doesn't recognize any of it at first glance, but she's already in love with this strange dungeon library. Her hands itch to start pulling books off the shelves and pouring over the information offered. 

"You've arrived!"

The voice echoes slightly and sounds very familiar. As she looks around, however, she doesn't immediately spot it. What in the name of sanity?

A rope drops two feet in front of her. She follows it from the floor and up, but there's already someone descending like some spy in a good mystery novel. She watches as the person slides down the length of rope with what looks to be practiced ease, landing neatly in front of her. 

Now she knows why she's heard that voice. It's Frank. Or is it Ernest?

"Dewey." He supplies, and her brows furrow. He extends a hand with a sharp smile. "A pleasure, Olivia Caliban. I've heard so much about you."

"I'm afraid I haven't heard a thing about you." But he surely must be the triplet. Dewey, Ernest, and Frank. Not twins at all. Triplets. She can't help the smile that worms it's way forward. 

"There's plenty of time to acquaint ourselves with one another. But the important thing to know is that I'm a librarian. And due to impending fatherhood, I thought it best I seek out another clever librarian to aid me in the upkeep of this secret place."

Olivia's heart skips a beat. 

"I would like that very much, Mr. Denouement."

He unhooks himself from the rope with another easy smile.

"It's Dewey, please. Let me show you around."

**Author's Note:**

> goes along with, you know, olivia and jacques not dying. and dewey. because they all deserved better and daniel handle is a literal animal for killing them. ANYWAY. this is how i can see it happening.


End file.
